Daily Archives: January 8, 2007

Those are Calvin Johnson’s career stats against Georgia. Add to that Calvin’s o-for in wins versus the Dawgs. It’s not exactly a stellar career against your biggest rival, especially if you’re arguably the most talented player to play for the Yellow Jackets ever.

I’ll always wonder what could have been if Calvin had chosen the Red and Black, but we’ll never know. I wish him the best in his pro career; he’s a remarkable talent and a class act.

What is it lately with big media and high profile coaches taking new jobs? Is it just jealousy, or are these guys really that detached from reality?

Today, Stewart Mandel weighs in with Bobby Petrino leaving Louisville to take the Falcons’ head coaching job with the provocatively titled post, “Petrino deserts Louisville“. Evidently Petrino’s sin in Mandel’s eyes was to agree to a long term big money contract with Louisville. Never mind the fact that in jumping to the pros, Petrino basically doubled his annual salary. Or that when he signed that ginormous contract, he negotiated a clause that allowed him to go to the pros without having to pay a buyout penalty (you’d think that would be a clue about his intentions, wouldn’t you?).

Mandel wants to equate Petrino with Saban in terms of how he handled the move, but is forced to admit that “Petrino didn’t flat-out lie to the public like Saban did.” Nope, Petrino’s greater faux pas is that, unlike Saban, he succeeded too well:

…Had Petrino remained the coach and both Brian Brohm and Michael Bush returned for another year, the Cardinals, coming off a 12-1 season and Orange Bowl victory, would have been prime contenders for next year’s national championship.

Petrino has the program perched at a level of unprecedented success? The bastard!

Let’s see: if you’re a head coach and you’re honest about your job situation, like, say, Jim Mora, you get crucified; if you deliberately mislead folks about your job situation, as Saban did, you get crucified; and if you really don’t say anything of substance one way or the other about your job situation, as Mandel admits Petrino did, you still get crucified.

If there are any other options, perhaps Mandel could enlighten us about them. Or maybe he’s angling to become a big name coach’s press agent…

Looks like Steve Spurrier has another drill to work on with his team: when you win a bowl game (admittedly, a rare event in South Carolina football history), remember to bring back the damned trophy.

This story could have been better:

… The group stopped once — at a Hooter’s in Conyers, Ga. — to watch the second half of the Chick-fil-A Bowl between Georgia and Virginia Tech. Morgan, a native of North Augusta, said he left the trophy in the car, covering it with blankets and jackets, rather than exposing it to possible harm at the hands of Georgia fans…